56 A COLONY IN THE MAKING chap. 
law into their own hands and even gone further than 
mere thought. I fear that it is impossible to con¬ 
sider the question without, at the same time, con¬ 
sidering the case of the deportation of the Hon. 
Galbraith Cole, which excited such deep indignation 
in the Protectorate, and even a certain mild wonder 
at home. The facts were shortly these. Mr. Cole 
was a pioneer sheep-farmer, a man who devoted 
himself to his business and left politics and agitation 
alone. He was, perhaps, the man most universally 
respected by farmers and natives alike in the 
country. Mr. Cole began to suffer from sheep-theft, 
and informed the police; they proved powerless. 
The thefts increased; he vainly tried to protect 
himself by legal means ; but finally gave fair warning 
that unless he could get adequate protection he must 
take the law into his own hands. A little later he 
caught two Kikuyus red-handed with the skin of one 
of his freshly-killed sheep; this being the third 
occasion on which these self-same men had been 
detected. They attempted to escape and he called 
on them to stop. They refused to do so and he 
fired at one, killing him. He then made an un¬ 
doubted error of judgment in not reporting the 
matter to the authorities. The Kikuyu who escaped 
did report the matter, and Mr. Cole was arrested and 
tried for murder. The jury without leaving the box 
found him not guilty. 
A month or two later Mr. Cole was deported 
as being dangerous to the peace of the country, 
nominally by order of the Governor, actually by 
order of Mr. Harcourt, Secretary of State for the 
Colonies. 
Now, for the benefit of those who sit at home at 
